Breakout
by turntable1622
Summary: Shadow is in a terrible rut. He has a dead end job, and the woman he loves is caught in an abusive relationship. But, when he discovers a new passion, will he be able to escape the current hell he has been living for so long?


Chapter 1

Everyday, night after night, he couldn't sleep. The sand engulfed his eyes in a dreadful, burning sensation that he had become used to over time. Being an insomniac is not exactly the best kind of person to be. But, it is not easy when you are living with a couple that constantly engages in domestic disturbances almost every waking hour.

The voices from the other side of his wall…they just wouldn't stop.

"Do you think I like hurting you?!"

"I'm…sorry, Knuckles."

"You selfish…blind whore of a woman! And to think that I actually gave my life to you!"

"No…please, Knuckles…not that!"

Constantly filling him with rage, the black hedgehog that lay like a stone in his bed would grip his sheets and grit his chattering teeth, while ripping the fabric from his sheets in pure anger.

But…he could do nothing.

He knew that what the man was doing to his wife was wrong in absolutely every possible way. Yet, no matter how much he wanted to end the man's reign of terror over his wife, his mind would always fight with him, driving him to the brink of insanity as his conscience eventually persuaded him to just leave the two to their own relationship. Even when it seemed he had won over his mind, Rouge would usually just tell him to let it go and let Knuckles "be Knuckles"

Still, the hedgehog had a secret that he had been holding inside of him for quite some time.

He loved the man's wife.

Rouge, the woman who took all the abuse, the only reason he got up in the morning, the beautiful bat who constantly tried to hide her scars, was his only source of happiness. Every time he saw her, the black hedgehog would undergo a secret urge to embrace the bat and take her away from all of her terror; Her abusive brute of a husband, her minimum wage job, and the sadness that had flooded her heavy heart by being stuck in the situation she was in.

"If only…" the hedgehog would think to himself, "I could do something."

The hedgehog, known as Shadow, used every bit of strength he could muster to pull himself out of bed, and into the shower right next to his room.

The warm water dampened, and eventually, soaked his fur, as he pressed his head against the wall below the nozzle. He let out a soft, depressed sigh, as he began to prepare for the day, and its obstacles.

"If only…"

OOO

Shadow was sitting at the dining room table, as he slowly ate a bowl of oatmeal. The oatmeal made its way down the hedgehog's throat, satisfying his hunger with every single gulp.

"Well, … someone's up early."

Shadow turned his head to meet the one he despised with a passion. He had a look of unreasonable hate in his eyes, as he gulped down a cold Budweiser and watched the hedgehog glare back at him.

"Good morning, Knuckles." He muttered under his breath, as he returned to his oatmeal. "Beer in the morning?"

The echidna scowled at the hedgehog, and replied,

" Shut your mouth, asshole."

Knuckles then made his way to the cabinet to grab a glass with ice and pour the rest of his beer into the glass. He sipped the drink greedily, as Shadow watched him with a despising look in his red eyes.

"You know… you've been overstaying you're welcome for a while now. When are you going to get your stupid ass a job?"

Shadow growled back,

"I have a job at the diner downtown! It's not exactly the best job in the world, but at least I'm getting paid for it!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes and sighed,

"Loser."

Shadow used every bit of restraint in his body to not leap from the table and attack the echidna. Thankfully, his conscience once again told him to just hold back and be the better person. But, for Shadow, being the better person didn't seem like the best strategy for him right now.

While Knuckles had been physically torturing Rouge, Shadow had been losing his confidence ever since the couple were generous enough to let him stay at their home when he had nowhere else to go. After Eggman's untimely death, there was no real threat to the world anymore. Everyone Shadow had fought alongside with, Tails, Silver, Amy, Blaze… they all went off and did something useful with their lives. Then there was Sonic.

Sonic had gone off to live with Amy after Eggman's death. It was funny to Shadow, because he never thought that the blue hedgehog had anything for the girl. But, it turned out that they tied the knot apparently, and were now living somewhere far from where Shadow was.

"At least he's up and running." Shadow thought to himself. "I'm wasting my life away with an asshole and a woman who doesn't deserve him at all."

"Well…" Knuckles began. "I'm heading off to the office."

The echidna grabbed his dusty, rugged hat from the rack and took one last look at Shadow before heading off.

"Deadbeat." He muttered bitterly, and on that note, he slammed the door, causing Shadow's bowl to shake from the impact.

"Asshole." He thought, as he finished his oatmeal, and put it away in the dishwasher.

Shadow turned his attention to the clock that hung above the stove. It was 9:35 in the morning.

"Isn't Rouge supposed to be up by now?" Shadow thought to himself, as the clock continued to tick and tock throughout the day. "Why didn't Knuckles wake her up?"

The hedgehog then slapped his hand to his face and sighed,

"Oh, why would he do anything? He doesn't even care about her!"

Shadow looked up the stairwell, and said,

"Well, I guess someone around here has to help her out."

The hedgehog made his way up the stairs and approached Rouge and Knuckle's room. He knocked on the door and called,

"Rouge? Rouge! It's almost 10:00, you have to get up!"

From the other side of the door, Shadow could hear a mumble, and then a terrified scream from the bat.

"Oh, god!" She yelled. "Knuckles is going to be pissed!"

Soon after she woke up, Rouge burst through the door, startling Shadow in the process.

"Oh, sorry Shadow!" She apologized, as she quickly put on a sweater. "I'm really running late, huh?"

Shadow just blushed at the sight of the beautiful bat before him. She was wearing a gray sweater with blue jeans.

"God," he thought to himself. "Just seconds after she wakes up, and she looks absolutely stunning."

"Oh, it's fine…uh. I just knew you had to be up at this time."

Rouge smiled warmly and said,

"Well, thank you very much for waking me up. Now, I should really get going. My boss will fire me for sure if I'm not at the hair salon soon!"

"Okay." Shadow said. "No problem."

Rouge waddled down the steps and quickly made her way to her car outside. From a nearby window, Shadow watched Rouge ride away in her car and make a left turn onto Main Street.

After watching her drive away, Shadow decided to take his usual route to the diner… by foot. Thankfully, it wasn't too far away, but still, Shadow wished that he could afford enough to buy things for himself. He had almost nothing in his room besides some gothic literature that Rouge bought for him with a desk and a bed with a lamp right beside it. That was it.

"I better get going to the diner now." He thought. "I'm not working the night shift today…so I just can't sit around on the sofa and do nothing."

With that in mind, Shadow left the house and locked the door behind him. He placed the keys under the welcome mat and started walking,

"Well, another day to just get by." Shadow mumbled, as he made his to the diner.

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this first chapter to the story. Next chapter will be up as soon as I have free time to work on it. Stay tuned!


End file.
